Semitic free genitives : a minimalist N-To-spec approach

Abstract EN

This article proposes an N-to-Spec approach to the analysis of Semitic Free Genitives, in which the head N raises to Spec,DP, rather than to D0.

I argue that the syntax of Semitic free genitive constructions is related to two components: syntax and morphology.

The affixal nature of the (in)def article necessitates that it is affixed to the head N in morphology, giving rise to either Def-N or N-Indef.

The analysis is based on three facts of FGs in Semitic: i) the ban imposed by the presence of the genitive particle for head movement to apply in FGs, ii) the affixal nature of the (in)def article and the phonological boundary between the head N and such article(s), and iii) N0-to-Spec approach provides a straightforward and principled account for FGs and their syntactic and semantic properties, in addition to being minimalist in nature, i.e.

it moves the least amount of material.

It consists of two operations: syntactic, in which the head N raises to Spec,DP, and morphological, which is performed by M-merger (morphological-merger), merging the moved lexical head N and the (in)def article, taking place after transfer, i.e.

after Spell-Out, as a PF operation.

Both form a complex head as part of the morphological component